Bank of America Corp DE Buys 123,732 Shares of Simmons First National Corporation $SFNC

Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of Simmons First National Corporation (NASDAQ:SFNC - Free Report) by 24.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 624,613 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 123,732 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE owned approximately 0.43% of Simmons First National worth $12,149,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in Simmons First National by 156.0% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,518 shares of the bank's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 925 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Simmons First National by 197.5% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,663 shares of the bank's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,104 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Simmons First National by 35.6% in the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,884 shares of the bank's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 495 shares in the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its position in shares of Simmons First National by 32.0% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,658 shares of the bank's stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 644 shares during the period. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Simmons First National during the fourth quarter worth about $66,000. 27.58% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Simmons First National Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Simmons First National stock opened at $23.01 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.49. Simmons First National Corporation has a 1 year low of $17.00 and a 1 year high of $24.32. The company has a market capitalization of $3.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.09 and a beta of 0.91.

Simmons First National (NASDAQ:SFNC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 16th. The bank reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.03). Simmons First National had a negative net margin of 24.64% and a positive return on equity of 8.32%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.44 earnings per share. Simmons First National's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Simmons First National Corporation will post 2.05 EPS for the current year.

Simmons First National Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.215 per share. This represents a $0.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. Simmons First National's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -33.99%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on SFNC shares. Morgan Stanley reiterated a "positive" rating on shares of Simmons First National in a report on Monday, June 29th. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and set a $25.00 target price on shares of Simmons First National in a report on Friday, July 17th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c-)" rating on shares of Simmons First National in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Simmons First National from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 20th. Finally, National Bank Financial set a $25.00 price target on shares of Simmons First National in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Simmons First National presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $24.50.

Simmons First National Company Profile

Simmons First National Corporation NASDAQ: SFNC is a bank holding company headquartered in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Through its primary operating subsidiary, Simmons Bank, the company maintains a network of more than 200 branches across Arkansas, Tennessee, Missouri, Mississippi, Texas, Oklahoma and North Carolina. Simmons First National offers a full suite of financial services to individuals, small businesses and commercial clients, emphasizing relationship-driven community banking.

The company's core business activities span deposit-taking, lending and payment services.

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